Wall Vinyl is the BEST!

WALL VINYL is the BEST!

Why do I love Wall Vinyl?


1. NON Committal - so if you are like me and you change up your decor taste say oh waaaaay too often you can do it easily and pretty inexpensively!

2. Structured or Whimsy  - you can have so much fun and allow your kids to put it up in Whimsy fashion.  I love love this shot with the black heart wall.  So fun.  Tell me your little one wouldn't love doing it with you.

3. REMOVABLE - Renting?  PERFECT for rentals.  Think of your cute college kids who just had a baby and want to do a nursery but can't because it's an apartment.  This is the PERFECT SOLUTION!

4.  FUN SHAPES!   I am working on new shapes but I currently have Bow TIES, ribbon bows, and aztec pattern, hearts and circles and triangles.

If you KNOW you are going to the love the look you can always paint over the vinyl and remove it to have a more forever look.   I actually plan on polk-a-doting a coffee table some day. . . paint style ;)

So if you are stoping by you are probably looking for a lay out for your wall vinyl.   I did my best to map it out for you!  But you may want them closer together.  :)

If you decide to do it closer and need more vinyl I will mail you more for Free shipping.  Or if you are a local pick up i will give you a great deal.  Just send me a picture of what you bought so I get it right!  :) I did my best to map out the average bedroom wall and include enough vinyl for you to do it all! :)



Here are some lay out options.

For the 1.75" circles and hearts:

for the 3-4 inch shapes 

For the LARGER Shapes 5.5" and up

The best ways to contact me would be to email questions or orders to mamasmakins@gmail.com

If you are a facebook or IG person you can find my signs and growth boards there at

www.facebook.com/mamasmakins

and

@mamasmakins  on Instagram

Thank you!

FREE EASY PRINTABLE DIY Patriotic Banner

I am a little obsessed with book page banners.  Anything book pages I love.  When attempting to make a new Patriotic Banner for Memorial Day & the Fourth of July I thought what a better book page than the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution!

So here it is for you!  You can simply print, cut, glue and hang!  I used jute but ribbon or lace would also be perfect.  I glued mine to the front, you may choose to glue it to the back.  I am also considering rolling or wrinkling my pages because they are a little stiffer than the typical book pages I use.

Hope you enjoy!  Happy 4th of July!

Just download the image. (Right click on the image, save as, then print)  You can import it to Word or another program and shrink them to add a smaller banner to your wreath too. ;)

Printable Easy DIY Bat Banner for HallOween!

My neighbor and I have started a little tradition of making each other holiday banners.  I wanted a Halloween one, but was in a time crunch.  I began cutting out burlap - and then saw my favorite on google images here.  Super cute and simple!   Just what I wanted!  She has other cute ones too!

So as simple as it is, I know some might be intimidated by trying to draw a bat.  So I have done all the work for you!  :)  Well, almost.

There are two PDF's you can down load.  The first is my banner scanned.  So you can just print, cut out and put it on a string!  (But the back side is not near as cute as an actual book page!  So if you have an old book laying around, you can use the second PDF and there you will find a template of this super cute bat, ready for you to cut out (fold and cut to make a stencil OR just trace, cut out of black paper and attach. :)

I WOULD LOVE FOR YOU TO LIKE MY PAGE www.facebook.com/mamasmakins


Copy this link in your browser for  the "super EASY" just print, cut and string:
click here for EASY print banner (no book pages required)

Or you can copy this link for the flag and bat shape and make your own template and paint or use black paper!
Click here for the flag and bat Template to DIY

Perhaps you can start a new banner tradition with a friend too!  Easy and fun surprise for each other!

Have a Happy Halloween!

The Beauty (The Beast) Family Values Plank wood sign DIY

I made this beauty.  Actually I call it the BEAST.  Because it took 6+ hours and stands 5 feet tall by 2.5 feet.  But I love her!  I real statement piece.  With a good message for us all.   

Our Family Values

I am going to go through step by step directions so you can DIY.

#1  Design the size and sayings you want.  Make sure to stagger the lengths of each to make it look more random.  Determine your color “random pattern.”

#2  Cut and stain the wood accordingly.  Cut and prep the vinyl accordingly.

#3  Layout the words and boards in the correct order.  Stick the vinyl letters to the wood.  Be sure to carefully center the words and lay them straight.  Press down all the seems to your vinyl, to minimize bleeding of paint.

#4  Paint over your vinyl letters.  To leave a rustic and ragged feel to the edges, do not paint all the way to the edges.  Again trying to make it look random.  Do not paint to every edge.  Leave some spots where the stain is still exposed.

#5  Peel of your vinyl letters with a tooth pick and/or tweezers.  (if the paint starts to peel off with the vinyl STOP put the vinyl back down and let it cure for 12 – 24 hours and then it should take off with no problem.  But if it lets you peel off right away it can be easier to clean up any “bleeding” with a tooth pick and baby wipe before it is dry.  The rougher the wood or the more raised grain there is in the wood the more bleeding there will be – but this is also what gives it the best distressing.

#6  When the paint is dry, sand lightly over the boards with a 120 grit sand paper – and the edges if desired.  You may want to also distress the paint in other areas as well.

#7  Dust off the boards and lie them face (words) down in order.  Measure the center of the length of each board and draw a line.  Make an entire line with tape or a pencil down the center of all of the boards.

#8  Carefully lay the metal strip down the back of the board on both the right and left side.  Screw the boards into the metal stripping.  For 5.5 boards I like to use 2 screws on each side for each board.  The 2.5 inch boards I only do 1 screw on each side per board.

#9  Attach the “D hooks” for hanging.  One on each side.  If you know where you are putting the board it can be helpful to find your studs and try to place the D hooks accordingly.  They of course need to be on a level line across the first or second board.  (a longer one).  You can always adjust the d hooks when you go to hang.  You will need a stud when hanging a LARGE 5.5 inch boards family sign because of the weight.  I am unsure if an anchor would hold the weight of the boards.  You may choose to use a wire securely attached to each D hook to hang if needed.

#10  Admire your beautiful work!

If you are interested I will soon have the Vinyl available at my etsy store for purchase.  

DIY Garage lockers or Cubbies

 I saw this SUPER cute pin on pinterest about this adorable storage that she handmade.  AMAZING!  So this is my inspiration.

http://www.chalkboardblue.com/2012/08/how-i-built-our-pottery-barn-lockers.html

My hubby printed out the building plans, we planned and stewed. . . 

Finally this is what we ended up with:

We didn't have the time to build our own from scratch.  So we saw the plain old white storage cabinets at Home Depot and decided to just go that route.  So if you aren't super handy and you want them to be able to stand alone this might be a choice for you.  There are THREE cabinets here at about $100 each.    I found some metal numbers at a steal at this dumpy place ;)  they didn't even have a 1 so I cut off a 7 and touched it up a bit. :)

The inside we love the storage it adds (AND HIDES!)  we used some wire racks that I previously been using for shoe storage and used zip ties to connect them all together and make shelves for the shoes.  it was a PERFECT FIT!  We added a few hooks for back packs and a board to separate the two girls' spaces.  Each person gets a number.

The DOWN side is that the shoes start to stink up our "lockers" so ventilation might be a good idea.  I am considering drilling holes in the back or something. :)   But I LOVE everything else about it.  In fact i have an extra long garage and so this acts as a fake wall and I hide a lot of storage behind it.  (Behind them are some heavy duty shelves which I think is good for extra support.)  

***Obviously not a staged picture***this is real life people!****

But I wasn't fully in love yet.  They were not near as cute as my inspiration.  I searched for hardware and hinges.  EXPENSIVE.  For garage storage?  Yeah, not for me.  Soooo  I took off the handles spray painted them black and put them back on with little vinyl stickers I designed to make them look like fancy handles.  Then I designed some vinyl hinges too!  I love the final finished product!  Makes me smile every time I pull into my garage to see a little bit of cuteness. :)

It has been almost 6 months that the handles have been spray painted.  I used some cheap $1 spray paint and there are a few scratches where it has come off a little.  Not really very noticeable though.  Perhaps next time if I will spray paint with a "designed for plastic" spray paint.